


Like Nya, I Guess

by Luxraays



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Bathing/Washing, Demonic Beasts, Fluff, M/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Post-War, is briefly a sickfic, non-sexual nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26702323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luxraays/pseuds/Luxraays
Summary: House Fraldarius boasted the second strongest line of crestbearing shapeshifters in all of Faerghus, rivaling that of Blaiddyd’s regal lions. Fraldarius herself was a sleek black leopard, as were all of her descendants-- Rodrigue and Glenn included....So it made perfect sense that Felix Hugo Fraldarius, a major crestbearer and second son of the House, would turn out to be a teeny tiny housecat.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 17
Kudos: 156
Collections: Sylvix Week 2020 Fic Collection





	1. Chapter 1

People said it was an added blessing bestowed by the Goddess, a second body that connected them to the land she once replenished. Only those with crests had the potential to tap into this power, as if they didn’t already have enough boons to satisfy themselves with.

Dimitri Stupid Poopypants Blaiddyd was the first in the group to discover his _totally dumb_ and _lame_ and _not cool_ ability. They learned about it one day while wrestling in the snow as children, after Felix tried to smother the prince with his weight, but then got thrown off by a lion cub twice his size. As predictable as it was, the whole kingdom celebrated for an entire week. Then the year after that, Ingrid Brandl Galatea became formally known as Ingrid Stupid Poopypants Galatea after shifting into a winged foal when she fell out of a tree, and a similar celebration was hosted by her own House.

For a while, Sylvain was the only one Felix could go to about his envy on top of his other troubles. The older boy never showed much interest in finding out if he had the ability, so for a while, many assumed that he couldn’t do it, including his own friends. Shapeshifting was an added perk to having a crest but was seen as its own separate thing at times-- as long as they had a crest in the first place to pass on to their kids, it was Just Fine if they couldn’t shift.

But then the time came for Sylvain to take up the title of Stupid Poopypants too, after Felix witnessed him partially shapeshift and show his fluffy fox tail to a girl in town. Of course, he was immediately forgiven when he let Felix touch it.

“Foxes are pretty small,” Felix commented. “How’re you gonna fight if you’re small?”

“I should be the one asking _you_ that,” Sylvain laughed and slapped his tail over Felix’s face, causing the younger boy to sputter and spit out fur. Felix spent the rest of their playdate chasing after a large fox kit, but then after that day, Sylvain didn’t like to shapeshift anymore for some reason.

Sometimes, the Goddess’s gift manifested at the same time a crest did. Other times, it came quietly or was awakened through roughhousing or endangerment, like it did with Dimitri and Ingrid.

And sometimes it came years later while doing something stupid, like Felix streaking through the Fraldarius estate after making fun of Glenn’s ugly haircut.

In Felix’s defense, Glenn now looked a lot like his father, much to both of their dismay. Glenn cornered Felix in one of the bedrooms and put him in a headlock-- only for the younger brother to suddenly shrink to the size of a stuffed animal and slip right out of his arms, hissing angrily.

House Fraldarius boasted the second strongest line of crestbearing shapeshifters in all of Faerghus, rivaling that of Blaiddyd’s regal lions. Fraldarius herself was a sleek black leopard, as were all of her descendants-- Rodrigue and Glenn included.

...So it made perfect sense that Felix Hugo Fraldarius, a major crestbearer and second son of the House, would turn out to be a teeny tiny housecat.

Glenn laughed his ass off when he saw what happened. Felix wanted to die.

“You mean to tell me that you, a Fraldarius, someone who’s from a long line of elegant and mysterious leopards, can turn into a cute wittle kitty cat?”

By itself, this wouldn’t have been a huge problem. There were people who turned into animals much more harmless than that, but Felix was supposed to be a leopard. Everyone in his family was one. How was he supposed to protect the Kingdom’s lions like _this_? Felix didn’t want everyone on his case about it, especially his father, so he did the only thing he could think of at that moment: he had to get rid of the evidence— Glenn.

He pounced with a squeaky yowl. The fight between a scrappy black kitten and a teenage boy was a ferocious battle to the death that lasted a whole three minutes. Several nasty scratches later, Glenn managed to calm the little terror by swaddling him in a blanket burrito.

“Please don’t tell dad,” Felix’s face burned with embarrassment when he finally turned back, scrambling to slip his clothes back on. He wished that clothing came and went with shapeshifting but then again... that was the only thing that kept people from doing so willy nilly, so perhaps there was merit in that.

Glenn, as insufferable as he was, simply grinned and nodded without question. Felix appreciated that even though his brother could be an annoyance, he knew his boundaries and never crossed them. Life went on as usual, save for the new nickname Glenn made for Felix when no one else was around to hear it: _Felix Fluffybutt_.

(At least it wasn’t Stupid Poopypants)

He was the only one who ever knew and took Felix’s secret to his grave. While talk of the new Fraldarius heir being unable to shift drove him mad to no end, it was better than the ridicule of being a lap cat in a house of leopards. He was content to keep it that way.

\---

Felix rarely shapeshifted. It came with the diligence of keeping it under wraps after all these years. A cat could only do so much against an armed enemy, so why bother and just train twice as hard with a sword instead? The time he spent during the war, however, taught him that being a cat was the best kind of peace he could ever have.

There weren’t any other cat shapeshifters around Garreg Mach as far as he knew. He checked the barely intact academy records to make sure. He was lucky to have his crest mark appear as a similar color to the rest of his fur too, as it normally stood out on other shifters’ animals which made it impossible to hide in plain sight. Felix’s was barely visible under the right lighting, so he easily blended into the monastery’s cat colony whenever he wanted some alone time. _Human free_ alone time.

If he stuck to the shadows, he didn’t have to worry about acting cute around people either. Felix’s former classmates joked that he was a lot like a cat in personality so it wasn’t that hard anyway, but he hated how bristly his tongue felt when he once pretended to clean his paws. Seeing cats do that to their butts still gave him shivers to this day.

His favorite spot to hang out was on the roof near the monastery entrance, up in the rafters where a tunnel of cool wind wafted through every evening. There was a view of the town and most of the dirt path leading towards the ruined academy. Leonie was standing by her usual post and sometimes saw him around. She thought she was in the company of a stray. Felix just let her believe that.

He was about to doze off when a familiar voice broke through the silence. Byleth, Claude, and Sylvain had gone on patrol earlier that afternoon despite some heavy rain, but dread filled up inside of Felix when he only saw Byleth at the gate.

“We came across another demonic beast near one of the towns early on,” Byleth informed Leonie. Felix noted their tattered clothes, soaked in rain and blood, which made Sylvain and Claude’s absence even more concerning. “We’ll need to increase surveillance around the area and host more patrols from now on.”

Leonie nodded. “Got it. And where are the others? Are they alright?”

“They’re fine, they went to town to pick up some tea and groceries.”

Felix took that as his cue to leave. Whenever Sylvain returned from patrol, he made a point to stop by and spend the night. This wasn’t always the case, but after hearing the Professor mention demonic beasts near the area, Felix wanted to check up on him even if he was with Claude. Citrus and sharp cinnamon stood out amongst the muted scents of rain and earth, so it didn’t take long to find those two chatting in front of a tea merchant’s wares.

“So,” Claude drew out the ‘o’ sound. “Mind telling me a thing or two about these teas, Sylvain?”

“Woah, you’re asking me? I thought you’d ask someone more refined like Lorenz or Ferdinand,” Sylvain laughed, and so did Claude.

“You can’t fool me, Sylvain. I know you’re as noble as those two. Maybe I wanna hear what sort of tea people from Faerghus would like. You’re already here with me, so I might as well ask."

“We’ll drink just about anything,” Sylvain picked up some bags of Bergamot and Almyran Pine, which earned a raised brow from Claude.

“You like Almyran Pine too?” He inquired.

Sylvain grinned. “I guess it kind of grew on me.”

Felix was within earshot of their conversation, but he found himself coming closer when Sylvain mentioned getting Almyran Pine tea. Claude glanced to the side and noticed something moving nearby.

“Is that your cat?” Claude asked the merchant, pointing to the little black cat stalking towards the stall. Felix realized his error in approaching so boldly and started scratching at the wooden post next to them, because what was more cat-like than fucking someone’s shit up?

The merchant didn’t seem to mind the property damage and shook her head in response. Sylvain chuckled and knelt down, pulling off his glove to let the cat sniff at his hand.

“C’mere kitty! Pspspsps!”

Felix had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Why did people feel the need to make weird noises at cats? It was kind of endearing to see a big guy like Sylvain try to lure him in though, so Felix rewarded him by rubbing his cheek against his hand. It smelled like tea. Sylvain grinned and took that as an OK to gently scratch Felix’s chin.

“Seems pretty familiar, don’t you think?” Claude clasped his hands behind his head, eyeing Felix with an amused look. Despite having known Claude for years, Felix could’t always tell what he was thinking, not with the way his bright smile pulled people’s attention away from everything else about him. It was a little unnerving at times.

“Mm...yeah. It might be one of the strays at the monastery. I think I’ve seen this handsome fella a few times, actually.” Sylvain’s touch was incredibly warm and gentle. Many people never would’ve guessed it from the way he held a lance, hands thick and calloused and strong. “I bet Felix would really like you. He’s always had a soft spot for cats even if he says otherwise.”

Felix would’ve hissed, but instead closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. A part of him wanted to scold himself for doing this-- he was Felix Hugo Fraldarius, a fearsome swordsman with blood on his blade, _not_ a housecat to be petted and pampered! But then Sylvain’s hand moved to hit that sweet spot behind the ears and oh, that felt really nice… perhaps he could allow it just this once.

He stayed like that until a freezing drop of rain, then two, then five splashed down onto him and brought him out of his daze. He darted into the bushes and scurried back to the monastery, feeling like the biggest fool in all of Fódlan.

\---

As much as Felix loved “hanging out” with Sylvain, he absolutely despised the rain. Soaked fur was a pain to deal with and could become unnecessarily heavy. He managed to return before those two did, so he took this opportunity to change back and clean up.

A nice, hot bath put him in a much better mood. He was on his way back to the dorms when he saw Claude and Sylvain round the corner, arms wrapped around shoulders, soaked to the bone and laughing like a couple of kids who just played in the rain. It warmed his heart to see them look so carefree for once, as if they didn’t just come out of a five year war. Sylvain perked up at the sight of Felix and hurried over to pull him into a bone crushing hug.

“Hey Felix! We’re back from patrol.”

Felix grunted, mostly because the larger man was sopping wet, his armor was cold and pointy, and Felix literally _just_ dried himself off, goddammit! But... he hugged him back anyway.

“Welcome back. What took you so long?”

“Why? Did you miss me?” Sylvain grinned. “We stopped by town to get some stuff.” He stepped aside to reveal Claude, somehow as dashing as ever despite looking like he got doused with a bucket. Felix nodded to him in greeting.

“Hey Felix. The professor said you’ll be joining them and Sylvain on patrol in about four days, right after Caspar’s rotation.” 

Felix nodded. “Sure. I could go for a day out.”

“You’ll be on the lookout for demonic beasts. Apparently, there are reports of some still hanging around even after we’ve cleaned that whole mess up. Still think it’s a ‘day out’?” Claude asked.

“I stand corrected,” Felix shook his head, the corners of his lips quirking upward, “it’ll be a field day for me instead.”

Claude laughed genuinely, much to Felix’s surprise. After years of navigating a similar sort of thing with Sylvain, Felix learned to look past the charm, but that only made things marginally easier. Claude had his own style to it which still made him an enigma for the most part. 

It takes a charmer to know one, so Sylvain was doing a much better job at figuring it out. Those two looked content to circle each other and play their brain games, and Felix let them have that.

“Great! Now if you lovebirds will excuse me, I’ve got my own date with a long, relaxing bath. I’m this close to freezing my beard off!” Claude shivered and rubbed his arms for dramatic effect before walking towards the direction of the baths, leaving Felix red in the face.

“Wow,” Sylvain whistled, “You two are finally getting along.” Felix rolled his eyes.

“Aren’t you going to join him? You’re soaking wet.”

Sylvain shook his head, causing a few wet droplets to fly everywhere. “Nah, I’m too tired for that. I’m just gonna dry off and call it a night.”

“You’ll get sick,” Felix frowned and headed to his room. Sylvain followed him in, and with how often he did, it was really their room more than anything.

“No I won’t! Did you forget that I thrive in the cold?”

“I’d believe you if you’re an arctic fox. And no, red foxes don't count.”

“Have a little faith in me, Felix! I‘m a child of winter.”

“You were born on the month of the Garland Moon.” Felix threw a towel at him playfully.

“Summer in Gautier is still freezing!”

“Alright, fine. But don’t come crying to me if you catch a cold.”

“Yeah yeah, I kno— ah...ah- _CHOO_!”

The sneeze echoed throughout the room before falling dead silent. Sylvain had his face hidden under the towel so he didn’t have to see Felix staring at him, and despite all that, he still had the audacity to sniffle loudly.

“I’m not sick!” Sylvain interjected, like he somehow sensed Felix was about to open his mouth.

Felix huffed and walked over to help dry off Sylvain, ruffling his hair with the towel. His red curls stuck out at odd angles. “Uh huh. Then what was that about?”

“Allergies,” Sylvain sniffed, holding his chin up high. “From all the fur and dust that’s been collecting in the monastery. Do you still let cats into your room like you used to?”

The only cat in the room was technically Felix, but Sylvain didn’t have to know that, so he just hummed in response. “You’ve been sharing my bed all these years and only _now_ your allergies come up?”

“You can gain allergies over time! Did you know that Felix? Ashe told me about it the other day. It’s pretty funny actually-- apparently one of his siblings who loves ice cream developed lactose intolerance and couldn’t eat it anymore.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“That’s because you don’t like ice cream!”

Felix rolled his eyes. “It’ll probably be better if you sleep in your own room for tonight, then. I’ll clean up my place tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan. You wanna sleep over?” Sylvain leaned and pressed his lips to Felix’s cheek. It was surprisingly really wet-- probably because of his runny nose. Gross.

“Yeah, alright.” Felix smiled faintly and gave Sylvain’s damp hair a fond pat. “Let’s go.”


	2. Chapter 2

Sylvain got sick.

Normally, Felix would’ve been irritated with him for not taking better care of himself. At the same time though, the swordsman had already seen this coming from a mile away. The years spent with Sylvain and his _Sylvain-ness_ taught him that some things were better approached with resignation rather than exasperation.

“I know what you’re gonna say,” Sylvain rasped, sighing in relief as a cool towel was placed on his forehead. “I’m an idiot who didn’t wanna listen.”

Felix tsked and dabbed another towel around the man’s neck. “Took the words right out of my mouth. Seriously, I woke up and found you shirtless and without a blanket. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that we must’ve had a crazy night last night.” That earned a Look from Felix. “I got hot in the middle of the night so I took my shirt off, okay--?” Sylvain turned away to let out a cough that wracked through his whole body. When he finished, he groaned and flopped back against his pillow. “Just gimme a day or two, I think it’ll go away on its own then. If not, then I’ll go see Marianne or Mercedes.”

Felix shook his head. “You’re not waiting that long. I’m getting them _now_.”

“There’s probably other people who need them more than I do right now, Felix. It’s okay, really. I don’t wanna burden them over a small cold.” Felix narrowed his eyes at the implication of those words. He knew Sylvain well enough at this point to know.

“It’s _not_ just a small cold, and you’re _not_ a burden, Sylvain. I’m getting you a healer.”

There was a brief pause before Sylvain exhaled slowly. It ended in another rough cough, then two more. “Okay, fine. You win.”

\---

Marianne confirmed that Sylvain came down with a nasty cold, but given how strong he was, there was no doubt that he wouldn’t get over it in a few days with a bit of rest.

But because Sylvain was coughing and sneezing, that also meant Felix wasn’t allowed to visit for the time being. Something about contagiousness and spreading germs. It wasn’t anything too serious, but if it was enough to put even Sylvain out for a bit, everyone had to be careful. The last thing they all needed was the whole monastery out of commission. It was fine. Felix knew how to be alone, but that didn’t stop him from worrying over Sylvain anyway.

A day passed as he unsuccessfully tried to take his mind off of him. He practiced his sword technique all day and demolished every stuffed dummy in the training grounds. Then, he took the time to rebuild them with wooden planks for armor just to slice them apart again. He also decided to try and look into Sylvain’s symptoms for the hell of it, though _coughing_ and a _raspy voice_ could range anywhere from the common cold to pneumonia. Not very reassuring.

Felix was on his way back to his room to clean up as he told Sylvain he would, when he crossed paths with Marianne and Mercedes just as they exited the sick man’s room.

“Is Sylvain okay?” Felix asked Marianne, maybe with a little too much intensity.

“Oh, Felix! Um...yes, he’s doing a little better now. But he’s still very contagious, so please don’t go into his room.”

Marianne was still a soft spoken woman at heart albeit her happier demeanor, so she jolted when he suddenly approached her. Mercedes, on the other hand, was soft spoken only in voice. Everything else about her was firm, and Felix was reminded of that as she grasped his hand to stop him from opening the door.

“Sylvain is sleeping right now. I think by tomorrow he’ll be cleared to have visitors,” She smiled sweetly at him. “You can wait just a little longer, right Felix?”

Felix did his best to listen to Marianne and Mercedes, but in all honesty, he was itching to see how Sylvain was faring. Even just a quick peek to see him looking better would be enough. Then, he remembered his research in the library. Viruses for the common cold were usually only contractible between humans.

Hmmm…

\---

When the waning moon was at its highest, Felix changed forms and slipped out the window. One small leap to the next ledge over and he was already at Sylvain’s, peering inside curiously. It was completely dark, save for what looked like Sylvain’s unmoving silhouette sitting in bed. Just a quick check up to give himself some peace of mind and then he’ll be on his way…

...Until Sylvain was suddenly right in front of him, nearly startling him off of the ledge.

“Hey little fella, didn’t think I’d see you again— and here of all places,” Sylvain held out his hand again for the cat. He smelled of cinnamon and rain, with a hint of sickness that clung to him a bit heavily. Felix looked up at him and was relieved to see that he was looking remarkably better. There were just the beginnings of dark circles forming around his eyes, but he was less pale and walking about now. A good sign of recovery.

“Sorry about the hot mess,” Sylvain gestured to himself, then to the medicine and used handkerchiefs cluttered on his desk, “I didn’t have time to clean. I know, I’m such a bad host.”

Felix blinked. He couldn’t respond even if he wanted to.

“...Why am I even talking to a cat?” The mattress creaked as Sylvain slowly settled back down into bed, wincing a little. Felix figured it wasn’t out of character to stay around a little longer. He chose to wait until Sylvain fell asleep before leaving.

Except Sylvain didn’t. It sounded like he was congested with the way he wheezed quietly, got up to blow his nose, and had a coughing fit every once in a while. No wonder he was getting bags under his eyes.

Felix decided that this wouldn’t do. He pushed past the window pane and padded towards the bed. Sylvain turned his head to look at him and sniffled.

“Hey...what’re you doing? Don’t you dare. You’ll get cat hair all over my bed!”

Felix didn’t care.

“I— Nooo!”

And that was how Sylvain ended up stuck in bed with a cat loafing on his chest. He was too worn out to do anything about it though, so he just accepted his fate. The small animal bounced every once in a while as Sylvain coughed and complained about the extra weight.

Felix wasn’t sure how it worked, but he knew that sometimes cats purred to help soothe and speed up the healing process. Now he just had to figure out how to do it…

“Guess you really like me, huh?” Sylvain murmured, lifting a heavy hand to scratch behind the ears.

Oh. That works.

Felix melted into the touch and closed his eyes. A loud rumble started up in his throat and reverberated through his entire body, spreading to Sylvain’s chest. The two stayed like that for a little while longer until Felix realized that the sick man had stopped coughing altogether. His breathing evened out and was a lot less labored now. Good.

At some point, Felix had fallen asleep to the repetitive movement of his fur being stroked. He woke up to the sound of birds chirping just before the sun would rise. Sylvain was fast asleep, the last traces of sickness having faded away in the middle of the night.

He quickly glanced over the sleeping man once more to make sure he was okay, then silently climbed out the window to go back to his own quarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short and sweet chapter! Past tense is hard...


	3. Chapter 3

The mud that formed after several weeks of rain made it difficult to patrol the area. Lorenz warned them of this-- apparently he had quite a conniption a few days ago when his boots kept getting sucked right off of his legs, so Felix was glad that his own went all the way up to his thighs.

“Keep a sharp eye out,” Byleth said as they, Felix, and Sylvain trudged through the mud. It made a gross squelching sound that made Sylvain chuckle the first few times he heard it. Felix just sighed at his reaction.

In actuality, Byleth and Felix were the ones walking. Sylvain was on a horse at the rear of the party looking perfectly content. Lucky bastard.

“Do you want a ride, Felix?”

“No, I’ll walk.”

The forested route was unnaturally still. Felix could feel something was off in the air, so his hand rested on the hilt of his sword as he walked. For a while, there were only the sounds of soaked boots on soft earth and the occasional clip clop from Sylvain’s horse.

“Over there, Professor. I see some pretty huge tracks that stop all of a sudden.” Sylvain pointed ahead to what looked like a clearing. Upon closer inspection, Felix realized that it was created by something big knocking all the trees down. There were torn up tree trunks and stumps littered everywhere.

Everyone stood by the muddy tracks that seemingly halted altogether, then it looked like the rest of the mud was all sloshed about. Felix knelt down to inspect everything more closely. The huge size of the footprint alone was enough to give away that it was indeed what they were looking for.

“It looks like a fight against a demonic beast happened here, but other than the trees, I don’t see any other traces of it.”

“Do you think the beast was fighting people?” Byleth asked.

“It could be a possibility. Either that, or it really hated this specific spot in the woods,” Sylvain spoke up, bringing his horse closer to everyone.

Byleth took a good look around the clearing. Aside from the forest debris, it seemed clean. No bodies or blood. “In that case, we should stop by the town and ask people if anyone’s been fighting any.”

Felix stood up and nodded. “Sounds good. The sooner we get out of this mud the better--”

They were all interrupted by a tremendous roar that was drawing closer and closer. Felix immediately drew out his sword while the others got into battle stances.

“Change of plans,” Byleth’s sword glowed wickedly in their hand. “Sylvain, Felix, by my side. Let’s make this quick.”

\--- 

Felix had thought that Lorenz was overreacting about the terrain, but once he actually started fighting, he finally understood.

First of all, there were giant chunks of trees everywhere. It wasn’t hard to maneuver around them, the problem was that many of those sizable pieces were buried in the mud. Felix and Byleth kept tripping and nearly taking out their ankles on what they thought was flat ground every time they jumped away from the beast’s attacks.

And then there was the mud itself-- right now, Felix was waist deep and totally sucked in, his sword casted a few yards away.

“Felix!” Sylvain turned his horse around to go help, but Byleth stopped him.

“Don’t! You’ll bring its attention to him!” The beast was way too close to Felix for anyone’s liking, but it hadn’t noticed him yet, so they had to count on that. “Help me get it further away!”

Before the beast could turn and see Felix, Byleth’s whip sword wrapped around the beast’s horn to jerk its head away. Sylvain thrusted his lance into its side and got it to chase him instead.

“Professor, we gotta end this _now_!” Sylvain shouted.

Byleth nodded and transformed, their dragon form immediately colliding into the beast. All Felix saw was a huge wave of mud get sent his way that buried him even further up to his chest. He spat out mud, planting his palms down on the soft mud to push himself up, but his hands sank further down instead. It wasn’t working. Fuck! Why wasn’t it working?

A large scaly tail-- either Byleth’s or the beast’s-- knocked Sylvain off of his horse and he scrambled to get away from them as they snapped and clawed at each other. It didn’t take long for the Professor to finally land the finishing blow, wings flaring triumphantly.

Fucking finally.

Byleth’s form shrank back down to that of a human again, stumbling into the mud and the sloughing remnants of the beast.

“Quick, get Felix out,” They wheezed. Sylvain bolted across the huge clearing.

Shapeshifting into something as big as a dragon used up an immense amount of energy. Once Byleth turned back, they had to recharge before being able to use any of their abilities again. This meant choosing their battles wisely, and they often did a pretty good job at that.

This was not one of those times.

Another sound of draconic screeching grew closer and the ground trembled once more. 

A second demonic beast burst through the trees. It swung its big head around, spotted Felix defenseless in the mud, and headed straight for him.

Felix felt energy build up in his arm, crackling and ready to burst. He casted Thoron straight at the beast but it kept charging. Blood roared in his ears and muffled the sound of someone-- no, Sylvain, screaming his name.

Time seemed to slow down. Felix turned and could see him, battered and bruised, running towards him with so much fear and desperation in his eyes. His heart pounded wildly. This wasn’t how he wanted to go— not when Sylvain’s terrified expression would be the last thing he’d see.

Scratch that, he didn’t want to die at all! Maybe if he shapeshifted, he could slip out of the mud and dart right under the beast’s legs.

It could work— or maybe the mud would pull him under instead.

He didn’t have much time to think—

— And just as he was about to change, Sylvain was right there—

There was the sound of armor wrenching apart and a deafening roar.

Felix instinctively brought his arms around his head and ducked as another battle ensued right in front of him. Sylvain was gone. Instead, there was a gigantic canine with blazing red fur and the crest of Gautier printed on its backside.

_Sylvain._

The mud around Felix loosened as those two fought. He took his opportunity to heave forward and finally pull himself free. Sylvain and the demonic beast grappled in the mud until he managed to pin the beast’s head with his jaws. Felix grabbed his sword and ran towards it, then in one swift movement, struck right at its head with all of his might.

It was over.

The beast’s body melted away into black sludge. Felix flicked the excess off of his sword and looked up to see Sylvain nuzzle at his chest worriedly with his snout. Upon closer inspection, it looked like his form was some sort of cross between a demonic wolf and a fox.

“I’m okay, thanks for… you know.” _For protecting me_. “But-- don’t do that again! That was really reckless. Didn’t I tell you to stop with these close calls?” But of course, Felix knew his words would fall on deaf ears.

Sylvain huffed and gave Felix a lick, which cleaned all the mud right off of him. Ewww.

“You didn’t tell me you could turn big like this. Is this new?”

Sylvain could only whine in response, resting his head on the ground and covering his face with his humongous paw. Maybe if they didn’t just come out of fighting two demonic beasts in a row (which Felix felt he barely did anything-- he hated being useless), Felix would’ve been in a good enough mood to think that it was cute.

Byleth walked over to them with Sylvain’s horse, donning their muddied coat. They didn’t seem very surprised with the turn of events, but then again...they barely reacted to anything these days. Felix always appreciated how quickly they could adapt and just go with the flow, no matter the situation.

“Good work you two. Sylvain, you should probably change back. You might bring unwanted attention.” Because Sylvain was always good at doing that.

He didn’t budge from his spot. Felix frowned in concern and went to cast Heal over some cuts and scrapes he found on Sylvain. He was no healer, but he could do this much. “Are you stuck in shift?”

“Try focusing your energy on becoming smaller,” Byleth suggested, kneeling down to be eye level with Sylvain. He made a groaning sound, like he was struggling to do that.

Felix, a cat shapeshifter, didn’t know a thing about bigger forms. He was an expert at becoming _small_ though, so he hugged Sylvain’s huge head and whispered into his ear:

“Imagine yourself feeling safe and warm in my arms. You don’t have to be strong all the time, you know. I’ll protect you.”

Neither of these two liked being vulnerable, but… for Felix, that was the only way he knew to access his shift. The tenderness, comfort, and trust of letting go for just a moment wasn’t all that bad, even if they were difficult things to accept sometimes.

His embrace around Sylvain suddenly grew smaller and smaller. Sylvain’s eyes snapped wide open as he rapidly shrunk, past the size of a human, until Felix and Byleth were staring down at a red fox.

“A little _too_ small, Sylvain,” Felix said dryly, but he pulled him into another hug anyway. It’d been forever since he last saw this form, so how could he resist when it’s so fluffy? “This should be more familiar to you now. I hope you know how to turn back from here.”

Sylvain’s tail thumped against the dirt tiredly. He was significantly bigger than regular sized foxes, but Felix had no problem carrying him around in his arms.

“Should we get going, Professor?”

“Yes,” Byleth nodded, also reaching out to touch Sylvain’s fur because he was just too irresistible. Felix understood that feeling very well. “Let’s head back home.”

\--- 

“You know, I think fur would look much better on me if it were on a coat,” Sylvain tried to joke, but the humor in his voice died off towards the end.

Felix shook his head and focused on lathering Sylvain’s hair. “Nonsense, you could pull off any look you wanted without even trying.”

“Uh huh. Man, I’ve got mud in places it shouldn’t be. Say, Felix, you wouldn’t mind helping me reach--”

“No.”

The two of them were enjoying a well earned bath together after the mission. While technically a success, Felix thought it was terrible because his performance was. It was horrific. Godawful! But he could at least scrape away all memories of it along with the mud on his skin.

“How’d you turn so big?” He asked.

Sylvain shrugged, gazing up to stare into Felix’s eyes. “I’m not exactly sure. I mean... it wasn’t the first time, but I haven’t shifted ever since I was a kid. So all of that stuff’s not really my forte.”

“You’ve done this before?” Felix blinked. “The really big fox thing?”

“Mmhm. It’s...not really sunshine and rainbows,” Sylvain rubbed the back of his head. “But you pretty much know everything about me, so I might as well tell you, yeah?”

”I’m all ears.”

“Foxes can’t really do much in a fight, you know? So they overworked me until I couldn’t take it anymore and I turned into that ugly thing. Apparently that form is supposed to be like a family secret or something, but I still don’t really know how it works. I wasn’t able to shift into a fox again for a long time.”

Felix’s brows furrowed. Everytime he learned something new about the Gautiers, his disdain for them grew tenfold.

“I really hate your family.”

“Me too! I’m glad we have that in common.” Sylvain’s laugh was full of warmth, the kind that spread in Felix’s chest and made him feel like he could take on the world.

Sylvain soaped him up next. “When we were fighting that beast, all I could think about was protecting you. Getting that thing far away from you. It was like there was a raging fire in me.”

Felix nodded. There were times when he fought to protect and felt a vicious anger like no other, claws and sword ready to slash and defend. He wondered if he were to focus on that when shifting, he could maybe become something bigger too...

“I was so scared of losing you,” Sylvain’s whisper broke through Felix’s thoughts. “I know it’s silly because we went through a whole war together, but… it was way too close this time.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you so much,” Felix cupped Sylvain’s cheek with a soapy hand, giving him a frothy beard. “I’d scold you again for risking your life to save me, but if I hadn’t gotten stuck in that damn mud in the first place…”

“Hey, that wasn’t your fault! That whole clearing was a death trap for all of us. You would’ve taken down those beasts in the blink of an eye and take all the fun out of the mission.”

“You’re right. And for the record, Sylvain, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I’ve got a promise to keep after all.”

They spent some more time together in silence. Sylvain was normally a chatterbox, filling in the space with his voice, but Felix grew to love these rare moments where they could simply enjoy each other’s presence. Nothing more, nothing less.

After a while, Sylvain spoke up again.

“Hey Felix? When I shifted into that huge thing, how did you know how to turn me back?” 

Felix pursed his lips. Sylvain had told him a secret, so he supposed it was only fair to come clean too. And he did trust Sylvain, so...

“I think it’s better if I just showed you.”

He didn’t want to end up swimming in the bath so he stepped out of the tub. Sylvain scooted to the edge and made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth as Felix shrank down into a cat covered in soap bubbles.

“You… you’re that cat!”

Felix meowed.

”You were the one I saw at the market--”

Felix meowed again.

”--And when I got sick!”

Felix flicked his tail and shifted, then quickly climbed back into the warm water. “Why do people talk to cats when they know they can’t talk back?” 

“Sorry,” Sylvain said sheepishly. “But hey-- unlike actual cats, you can understand what I’m saying! So it’s not _totally_ pointless.”

“But you didn’t know it was me,” Felix pointed out. Sylvain shrugged.

“Still, cats make such great company that you can’t help it sometimes. You proved that when I was stuck in bed with a cold, remember?”

“Yeah… they wouldn’t let me visit, but I wanted to check up on you.”

“You really missed me that much, huh?”

“So what if I did?” Felix sniffed. “It’s the least I could do after everything you’ve done for us as kids.” Sylvain smiled and brought him into his arms.

“How long have you been a shapeshifter? And...why didn’t you tell me?”

“I found out about my shift when I was twelve. I didn’t tell anyone because, well...you saw me just now. I’m fucking tiny.” Felix suddenly felt very silly for being embarrassed about his own shift after hearing Sylvain’s situation. It went deeper than that too, but Sylvain spent enough time with Felix enough to just _know_ , and nothing more needed to be said.

“You’ve always been tiny.”

“Shut up,” Felix splashed water at him and Sylvain retaliated by giving him a full body rinse, which caused him to sputter a little. Serves him right.

“Hey! I guess I can see why you were hiding it. If it were me though, I’d rather have a cat for a shift then the big ugly thing that I’ve got.”

“Your shift is a _fox_ and you’re _not_ ugly. Not that it matters anyway… you’re still the same fool I fell in love with through and through,” Felix mumbled, cheeks tinted pink. Sylvain chuckled at the sight.

“I love you too, Felix.” He leaned in to kiss Felix and it was happily returned. Soft and sweet, just like the two of them when they were alone together.

“So how are we doing this?” Felix asked once they were out of the tub and all dried up. “You don’t have clothes and mine are drenched in mud.”

“We could make a run for it back to our room,” Sylvain grinned.

Felix wrinkled his nose. “No way.”

“We could make a run for it back to our room...in _shift_ ,” Sylvain amended. Felix looked more partial to that and nodded. “I might need help with that again though…” He reached out to Felix and made grabby hands at him.

“Alright, c’mere.” Felix, far too used to the man’s antics by now, held out his own arms too. Sylvain stepped into the hug with a content sigh, swaying a little. The taller man had to lean down a little, but it otherwise worked out. Felix closed his eyes and welcomed the familiar hints of cinnamon, soap, and home. He ran his fingers through Sylvain’s soft hair, enjoying the warmth and closeness between their bodies, and the two of them could hear their hearts beat as one.

Felix felt Sylvain slowly relaxing into the embrace, and the shield he put up constantly when around others melted away, growing smaller along with his body.

“You’re heavy,” He grumbled and set the fox back down on the ground. Sylvain followed him to the door, watching as the man turned the doorknob first before shapeshifting into a cat again.

Felix was tiny in comparison, but that didn’t stop him from giving a headbutt and arching his back against the fox’s side. Sylvain took the chance to stick his cold, wet nose into the cat’s fur, which earned him a gentle bat on the snout.

They both scampered back to the dorms, chasing and pouncing on each other on the way there. If anyone noticed a cat and a fox playing together in the hallways, they knew better than to disturb them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was on the fence for a while about whether or not to make Sylvain’s big form a black beast or a demonic wolf-- but decided to go with the latter since it’s closer looking to a fox.
> 
> I’m also on Twitter @luxraays where I post art every once in a while! Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I had Nyaldarius and Sylfox on my mind for quite some time and finally decided to do something about it.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
